Gyroscopic toy



Dec. 5, 1944. v. F. WIGAL 2,364,117 n GYRoscoPIc Toy Fil'ed July 23.1945 Patented Dec. 5,1944

v ,mi claims.

\ `The present invention relates to improvements `in toys and moreparticularly to thatfc'lass of thereof.

toys embodying agyroscopic element as apart The present inventionconstitutes an iinprove` mentofv the structure shown in my `prior Patent2,173,031',` grantedl September l2?, 1-93932and provides a novel' toiyIinwhichy a gyroscopicV ele` l; l lFig. 5 is a cross-sectional view andrepresents i compactunit.

ay inodiiedl `form` of the invention yielding a` more Referring now tothe drawing, the numeral! indicates the exterior or `body portion of thetoyy In Fig. 1 is shown one way of `mounting a toy of ment maybedrivenfand controlil'ed by a motor so thatv the element, if desired;lmay be completelyf enclosed lwithin the toy. The present struc.-

tureeliminates the necessity of spinningv the gy roscopic` element' by"handand' also the gyroseopic element acts' asf a speed regulatororgovernor for the. motor so that no supplemental governing means is`required to provide `the coinparativelylslow-'fspeed necessaryfin movingthe relative to the body' spinning gyroscopic` element of the toy. 1 l rAn object:` orthis invention; isy `to provide `an improved` toy` in`which `agyroscopic elementj is mounted 'and' actuated`suol-rifliattlietoy/#will perform or move i'n `an entertainingmanner;4

Anotherobject `of' the invention isf` to `provide a.A g-yroscopic'toywhicha` motor is employed to rotate a gyroscopic element "atta,rel'ativelyv high speed about; its axis and to vary the direction of lthe axis of rotation so as to cause-the gyroseopic' ofthetoy. i

Itis a further object of the invention to proelement to precessand-cause varying movement videf a gyroscopic `toyv which includes as apart i thereof a.` common means for imparting moveA ment in a cyclicpath to theLg-yroscopio. element relative to` the` body of the toyyand-iforrapidly l gorilla-like configuration. The body is secured atftwopoints, `designated by the numeral- Zand represented as the hands andfeetA of the` ani,.- mal, to a vertical shaft 3 mounted on a, base iy insuch afrnannerthat the; tov is free to ro.- tate about, the shaft.` asan axis. lThe desired elevation of the"toylwith respect." to theshaftmaybe maintained by xedly securing an a-but.-

ment 5 to the shaft. As will be more particularly described hereinafter;when the/mechanism of the: toy is set inA motion,\\it willlperform.about "the shaft in an amusing and entertaining` man,-

ner.l It is understood, of coursey that; the, type of toyand its:supporting mechanism isV .merely forz the'. purpose `of illustrationand that the. toy

may be ofy anylshape whatsoever and pivoted at f any number ofypointsupon the axis about which it. isto..` perform. For` example the`extensions from the points of contact with the axis t0. the

body of the toy, here" represented asthe.v arms and legs, may bepivotedjto the body portion" and even at pointsfintermediate the bodyand axis; These extensions `may be of any desired length, it being keptin mind` that. in general, the "shorter .they are, theygreater `will `bethe f number of revolutions aboutfthewaxis obtained bya single winding.Thusthemechanism could i l be readilyadapted tol the type of toyillustrated rotating or spinning `the gyfroscopii':elementl about t itslown axis. i

' `Other and further objects of theinvention will beA apparent from the'following description taken in conjunction with the drawing, in which:i

Fig; 1` is` anexternal viewof one form of the .toyand illustrates aconvenientrrnanneroi mount` ing itjfor movementabout anaxis'. t F1822 isan enlarged cross-sectional View taken on :the line `2"--2cf "Fig: I andshowsa gearing arrangement; for `acconuplisliing the purpose-:loftheinvention. l Fig. 3 is an elevational view taken on the` line #-31 ofFig. 2 and` depicts thestructure for preventing the rotation of; theVgyroscopi'c. `element during't-he windinQ'operation. t j i i Fig; 4,is adetailed viewof certain of* the gears and showszl a. ratchetarrangement-:1providingwiior i `in my previous patent referred to aboveiReferring to theniechanisrn,` itself, a `preferred form of which isshown in IT'ig.` 2, it will be noted `thatr a spring `type motor `hasbeenchosen for `convenience of illustration.` It is `to `be realizedthat yany `otheri suitable means of actuation, for example an electricmotor, could be used. In

the drawing, the spring motor El `is attached at its;` one. end to afixed standard 'I' which is' in l l1 tum riveted or `fastened by any`other suitable the winding of thesprlng` motormwithout `causing thegears and gvroscopic` Velement to meanstothe toyfbody'` lf, `'andl atits. otherend by any suitable meanstofa point' 8. on "the, memberSifwhich is` rigidly secured-at l0y and Il to the frame. t2.` The. fixedstandardl `projectsthrough apertures; I@ and' I4: inthe members 9v andone" side, of the frame` t2 `to provide a bearingffor the frame l2.` Theframe l2 and asuppleinental frame `l5` rigidly attached toithe frame l2at` t6. and IT are also journaled.` on a key `shaft'lii at the points|9"and 2li, key shaftls beingaligned with the iixedl shaft 1. Themembers 9 and` l5 in conjunction with the frame I2 maintain the frame inalignment with the shafts 1 and I8. The shaft I8 is journaled forrotation by the key 2| in the boss 22 extending inwardly from the bodyportion I.

Fig. 2 and more particularly Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate a structure bywhich the spring motor can be wound without causing the gears andgyroscopic element to turn, thus saving wear on the moving parts and Ygenerally facilitating the winding operation. ":To` the key [shaft I8 isrigidly attachedan arm 23 to which is attached .a spring catch 24 at anangle such that when. i the keyy as shown in the drawing is turned in aclockwise direction, the spring catch will be projected between thespokes of `the gyroscopic element 25 and prevent it from turning. The

clockwise movement of the armr 23 is limited by'v .transmitted from thespring motor to the shaft 59 journaled on frame 45 and to which thegyroscopic element is attached by an arrangement of gears as follows: yagear 5I, of relatively small diameter vattached to the shaft 52journaled on `frame .45, meshes with gear 53 of a relatively itscontacting the member I5, a further turning of the key serving to rotatethe entire framework and wind the spring motor 5. Actinginconjunction'with the spring catch just described is a pawl 26 attachedto a gear 21 journaled on the shaft 1 at 28 and engaging the teeth of aratchet-29 whichxis locked `on the shaft 1 at 30.

Thus it becomes apparent that` pawl 26, which may be urged toward theratchet by a spring element 3I, will' allow the frame to turn in aclockwise direction to wind the spring motor vwithout rotation of thegears or gyroscopic element. :When the spring motor is released, whichcan beaccomplished by. turning the key in a counterclockwise direction,thus withdrawing the spring catch from between the spokes ofsthegyroscopic element, lthe gear 21 will be locked with respect to theratchet 29 and the shaft 1. For preventing I.the spring AcatchV fromengaging the spokes of the` gyroscopic element 'during the operation ofthe toy, a spring washer 32 maybe held by a pin 33 through the key shaft"I8 against one side ofthe frame I2 with sufficienty pressure toovercome` the .lagging tendency caused by the rotation of the assembly.`

In order to cause thevnecessary rapid spinning ofthe gyroscopic element,`any suitable i gear assembly may be' employed which will result in thedesired ratio, one suitable arrangementl being illustrated in Fig. 2. Agear 34 of relatively small diameter may be locked to shaft 35lrotatably supported in apertures 36 and 31 in frame I2 so as to meshwith the` gear 21 of relatively large diameter. Shaft 35 also has a gear38 of relativelyv large diameter fixed-thereto so as to engage gear 39of relatively small diameter, the gear 39 being locked to shaft 49 `towhich the gyroscopic element is. attached. The shaft 40 is journaled atits forward end in aperture 4I `in the frame I2 and at its other end inan aperture 43 in the L-shaped lmember -42 rigidly securedat 44 to theframe.

Thus it can be seen that in the operation of the toy whenfthe springmotor is released, vthe gear 34 will circumscribe a cyclic path aboutthe gear 21 which is locked and `held against rotation by the pawl 26,vand` through the gear'assembly as set forth above, the gyroscopicelement 25 will be caused to spin at the highv speed which is necessaryfor it to efficiently `perforrn its function, and at the same time the'entire assembly is rotated at a `relatively slow speed about the shaft1; v

lA modified form of the invention in which greater compactness ofconstruction is obtained is illustrated in Fig. 5. As in the form 0i"`kmy invention previously described, the frame here large diameter, whichis locked to xed shaft '46,4 as it iscaused to circumscribe avcirclethereabout bythe unwinding of the spring motor.

The gear 54 'of relatively large ,diameter` also locked toshaft 52Vmeshes with thegear 55 of relatively small diameter attached to theintertached to gear shaft-56 meshes with the 'gear 53.01? relativelysmall diameter locked tothe gyroscopic element carrying shaft 59. It isto be noted that all -of the gears are `positioned outside of the frameand the shafts Vcarrying them are arranged lin parallel relationship. Itis to be understood that the device'herei-n illustrated and rdescribedtogether with one modiiication of the same is exemplaryuonly of-a greatvariety of specific modifications'such-.as may come within the scope ofvthe following Claims.. y i.

Iclaim: '.1 1. Af toy comprising a gyroscopic element, means` forsupporting said gyroscopic element and a common means for both spinningsaid gymscopic element androtating said gyroscopic element relativetothe body of the toy.` "f

2. A toyincluding a gyroscopic element, means for supporting saidgyroscopic element, and ra common -means comprising a spring motor-forlboth. rapidlyspinning said gyroscopic element and causing saidgyroscopic element to rotateat a lower speed relative to the body of thetoy. 3. A toy'including a gyroscopic element, means for supporting saidgyroscopic element compris ing a frame journaled on a shaft-carried bythe toy. body,` and a common means for both spinningsaid'gyroscopicelement about its axis and rotating said frame with saidgyroscopic element relative to the body of the toy comprising a springmotor one end of which is attached to said frame and the other end ofwhich is attached-to said shaft. '".';.Ii

H4. A toyV 'comprising a gyroscopicj element, means for supporting saidygyroscopic element, and a common means comprising a springmotor forboth spinning saidr gyroscopic element and rotating said gyroscopicelementv relative tothe body of the to-y; said gyroscopic elementandsaid spring motor being entirely enclosed by thexbody of the toy. iY. i

5. A toy comprising a gyroscopic element, means for supporting saidgyroscopic element, a spring motor for spinning said'gyroscpic'velementand rotating said gyroscopic'elementv relativeto the body of the toy,and means whereby said spring motor maybe wound withoutv 'causi ingfthegyroscopic element to spin. 11"' a common means including a spring motorfor i spinning said gyroscopic element and rotating said gyroscopicelement relative to the body of the toy, a key for winding said springmotor having associated therewith `a means for locking said gyroscopicelement to prevent spinning during the windingoperation, said last namedmeans including a stop member carried by said key for engagement withsaid gyroscopic element when -said key is turned in a direction to windsaid spring motor, said stop member being withdrawn from engagement withsaid gyroscopic element uponreverse rotation of said key.

8. A toy including a gyroscopic element, means for supporting saidgyroscopic element comprising a frame journaled on a shaft carried bythe Vtoy body; and a common means for spinning said gyroscopic elementabout its axis and rotating said frame with said gyroscopic elementrela-v tive to the body -of the toy, said common means including aspring motor connected between said toy body and said frame and gearingbetween said frame and said body.

\ 9. A toy including a gyroscopic element, means for supporting saidgyroscopic element comprising a frame journaled on a shaft carried bythe toy body, and a common means for spinning said gyroscopic elementabout its axis and rotating said frame with said gyroscopic elementrelative to the body of the toy, said common means including a springmotor connected between said toy body and said frame, gearing betweensaid frame and said body and a key for rotating said frame for windingsaid spring motor and means for preventing spinning f said gyroscopicelement during rotation of said frame by said key.

10. A toy including a gyroscopic element, means for supporting saidgyroscopic element comprising a frame journaled on a Ishaft carriedby'the toy body, and a common means for spinning `said gyroscopicelement about its axis and rotating said frame `with said gyroscopicelement relative` to the body of the toy, said common means including aspring motor connected between said toy body and said frame,.gearingbetween said frame and said body and a key for rotating said frame forwinding said spring motor, said key being rotatable with respect to saidframe and having a stop element engaging said frame for rotating saidframe with said key, said stop'element also engaging said gyroscopicelement to prevent turning thereof during windin of said spring motor.VOORHIS F. WIGAL.

